1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for stopping a fleeing vehicle by causing a tire thereof to deflate by depositing a spiked deflation tool from a chase vehicle into a pathway of said fleeing vehicle to cause puncturing of at least one tire of the fleeing vehicle.
2. Description of Related art
Situations where law enforcement officers are required to give chase to perpetrators have grown to be ubiquitous. Once viewed as the capstone scene in cops and robber cinemas, a number of prime-time television productions now are based solely on this activity. Audiences are drawn to the death-defying antics of crazed, drunken or otherwise desperate criminals weaving in and out of freeway traffic, racing across crowded intersections. Ever as desperate, police officers and sheriffs alike race to keep up in efforts to apprehend the offender before harm is done.
For those involved, this is far from entertainment. Indeed, an increasing number of chase participants and bystanders do not survive; so many in fact that authorities in many jurisdictions have curtailed such chases despite the obviously negative outcome. In more recent times, a number of auto chase alternatives have been developed. Authorities are looking to technology, in the form of tools and mechanisms, to safely stop a fleeing or suspicious vehicle. Many of these tools include tire puncturing implements that are placed, thrown, or released into the vehicle's pathway.
For example Pacholok et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,849 disclose a spike deployment system that is projected in front of a fleeing vehicle. Similarly, Abukhader's U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,408 would stop a car using hollow spikes that facilitate escaping air from punctured tires. Spike strips, also including a hollow spike design, are deployed by a system presented by Lowndes in U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,109.
A spike belt is disclosed by Blair in U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,013. Blair describes a portable tire deflation device in the form of a band of spring steel 10-12 feet in length. Blair's spike belt is divided into multiple segments wherein each segment has a strip of removably secured, hollow steel spikes, and is designed for a law enforcement officer to deploy across a lane of traffic.
Groen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,745, teaches a vehicle tire deflation device to be positioned on a road surface in front of a moving vehicle. The device has a collapsible outer cover which makes it safe for handling prior to its deployment. The cover easily collapses so as not to impede the operation of the device in puncturing tires of the target vehicle. The multi-piece spike design of Groen et al. combines to penetrate the tire surface, subsequently embedding a hollow quill in the tire tread. Thus, the tire deflates at a controlled rate rather than a dangerous blowout.
Easily carried in the trunk of a police vehicle, the Groen et al. device has an optional mating connector configured so as to rigidly connect two or more deflation devices together for broader road coverage. A rolling tire embeds a hollow, puncturing quill which remains in the tire. Alternative designs for a tire penetration device including puncturing quills of the hollow type are described in Groen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,293. Greves and Greves et al., respectively in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,962 and No. 5,330,285 illustrate further embodiments tire puncturing implements of note. The above-discussed patents to Groen et al., Greves and Greves et al. patents present deflation tool technology assigned to Stop Stick, Inc. of Lawrenceville, Ind.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,475, Lowrie illustrates a system mounted to the underside of a vehicle behind the rear tires thereof similar to the location of the present invention device housing as will be described herein. The Lowrie system acts to eject a collapsed tire deflation device by means of a compressed gas propulsion source. A set of control switches is mounted inside the vehicle near the operator so as to control the ejection. The ejected deflation device remains attached to the housing via a tether line.
Curry, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,628, illustrates a method and apparatus for launching a base member in the form of a spiked strip directly from under the rear of a lead vehicle and onto a roadway in front of a trailing target. The spiked strip causes deflation of the tires of the trailing vehicle. The spiked strip includes a plurality of tire piercing spikes projecting in a single direction. Illustrated is a trapezoidal housing with a bottom plate having said spiked strip affixed thereto. The plate is designed to drop onto the roadway when triggered by the operator of the lead vehicle. A mechanical and/or electromechanical latching device is employed by Curry for holding and releasing a trailing edge of the bottom plate.
Curry's spiked strip is illustrated as affixed to the bottom plate such that when the plate engages the road surface there is no possibility of the spiked strip “turning turtle” to an ineffective position. Although not illustrated, Curry suggests that the bottom plate may in some way be hinged to a forward lip so that an unattached spiked strip would be allowed to slide down the bottom plate which would serve as a launching ramp for the spiked strip. In this latter embodiment, the descent of the spiked strip would appear to be uncontrolled as to tumbling or disorientation relative to a targeted vehicle tire.
While each of the above-described devices and methods has its merits, none is completely satisfactory. Some in fact even pose considerable risks to the law enforcement officers who are assigned to deploy them. These devices place not only the officers in danger but also endanger innocent drivers and bystanders. The present inventive system effectively resolves the shortcomings and inadequacies of the prior art in satisfying a long felt need.